Bite down mouth guard plate for strenuous activities

ABSTRACT

A device for placing in the mouth designed to be gripped or clenched by the teeth during weight bearing or strenuous exercises. The device is a mouthguard apparatus comprised of a bite-down plate for placing in the mouth which is configured of a food grade material. The bite-down plate has a shape with a general appearance resembling a weightlifting plate. The mouthguard apparatus may be attached to a necklace cord and warm around the neck allowing quick and easy access and removal to the mouth.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/938,226 filed on Nov. 20, 2019, which is incorporated by reference inits entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field generally relates to mouth guards, and particularlyto a mouth guard adapted to comfortably protect a wearer's teeth andallow ease of placing and taking the mouth guard out of the wearer'smouth.

BACKGROUND

Studies have shown that strenuous exercise can affect the teeth. Inparticular, exercises like weightlifting can affect the health of theteeth. In such exercises, the natural response of the body is to clenchdown hard on the teeth when an individual lifts a heavy weight. Thiscycle is repeated over and over again when weight training which cansubsequently lead to enamel on the teeth being worn down. At the sametime, when lifting heavy weights, the individual will clench their jawshard which forces the top of the lower jaw up and back, causing the discwithin the joint to be pushed forward. Over time this can getexacerbated which can lead to headaches facial pain, tinnitus, neckpain, and shoulder pain among other things.

Many athletes commonly wear a mouthguard during their workouts. Mouthguards or mouth protectors provide protection against injuries to theteeth, lips, cheeks, and gums, and may also reduce the incidence of headand neck injuries, concussions, and jaw fractures. Generally, mouthprotectors are fabricated to cover all teeth of the maxillary arch,except for the erupting third molars. To provide maximum protection, itis believed that the energy absorbed by the mouth protector must bedissipated by the protector, rather than transferred to the underlyingtooth and jaw structure. Such mouth guards are substantially U-shapedand are molded from a moldable plastic precursor, either by molding theprecursor to an impression or by softening the precursor by preheatingthe precursor and allowing the wearer to bite into the precursor toconfigure the mouth guard to the upper teeth. Such mouth guards includea channel defined by an interior side wall, an exterior side wall, and abottom wall. Such conventional mouth guards are often uncomfortable andoften interfere with speech of the wearer, thereby causing some wearersto remove the mouth guard often during use, for example at an athleticevent.

Hence, there remains a need for an improved, convenient, and morecomfortable mouthguard wherein the wearer's teeth are adequatelyprotected during strenuous exercise.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides an improved, convenient,and more comfortable mouth guard wherein the wearer's teeth areadequately protected but where interference with speech and breathingare minimized. It is also the object of the present invention to providea mouth guard which can be easily placed within the mouth and removed.It is also the object of the present invention to provide a mouth guardwhich may be worn around an individuals' neck when the user is notwearing the protective guard between the user's teeth and in the user'smouth.

The mouthguard, according to one or more non-limiting embodiments, maybe designed as a weightlifter's weightlifting plate. Typically, a weightplate is a flat, heavy object, usually made of cast iron, that is usedin combination with barbells and dumbbells to provide a bar with adesired total weight for the purpose pf physical exercise. Weight platesare typically round, although 12-sided and other polygonal varietiesexist. In a preferred embodiment, the weightlifting plate styled mouthguard would be designed and made with existing mouthguard material thatis also food-grade material. In this exemplary embodiment, the mouthguard would be designed to resemble a 45 lb weight plate. In alternateembodiments, multiple designs to resemble different weighted plates andcolors may be used. The mouth guard would be constructed with food gradematerial used for mouthguard material. A necklace may be incorporatedand coupled to the weight plate such that the weight plate may be wornaround the individual's neck and would serve the dual purpose of ease ofuse and a jewelry fashion piece. The necklace may be looped through anopening in the weight plate shaped mouthguard. In an alternateembodiment, a loop may be coupled to the mouthguard and the necklacecord can be looped through the integrated loop.

The presently disclosed mouth guard according to one or morenon-limiting embodiments is further described in the attached drawingsand detailed description below.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment of a bite-downmouth guard plate.

FIG. 2A illustrates a perspective view of a first alternate embodimentof a bite-down mouth guard plate with cut-out handles.

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of a second alternate embodiment of abite-down mouth guard plate with cut-out handles.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a bite-downmouth guard plate with alternate attachment means for a necklace.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the Summary above and in this Detailed Description, and the claimsbelow, and in the accompanying drawings, reference is made to particularfeatures (including method steps) of the invention. It is to beunderstood that the disclosure of the invention in this specificationincludes all possible combinations of such particular features. Forexample, where a particular feature is disclosed in the context of aparticular aspect or embodiment of the invention, or a particular claim,that feature can also be used, to the extent possible, in combinationwith and/or in the context of other particular aspects and embodimentsof the invention, and in the invention generally.

The term “comprises,” and grammatical equivalents thereof are usedherein to mean that other components, ingredients, steps, among others,are optionally present. For example, an article “comprising” (or “whichcomprises”) components A, B, and C can consist of (i.e., contain only)components A, B, and C, or can contain not only components A, B, and Cbut also contain one or more other components.

The following description provides preferred exemplary embodiments only,and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configurationof the invention. The following description of the preferred exemplaryembodiment will provide those skilled in the art with an enablingdescription for implementing a preferred exemplary embodiment of theinvention. It shall be understood that various changes may be made inthe function and arrangement of elements without departing from thescope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

The presently disclosed mouthguard device enables a user to comfortablyplace the mouthguard device in the user's mouth and bite down upon themouthguard in order to adequately protect the user's teeth duringactivities when the user grips down hard with the user's teeth, such asbut not limited to weightlifting or other strenuous activity. Thebeneficial functionality of the mouthguard in the present disclosure inone or more non-limiting embodiments is to prevent dental injuriesduring strenuous exercises, and to provide ease of use where themouthguard may be easily placed in the mouth and taken out. Themouthguard, as described herein in one or more non-limiting embodiments,may also be used as a fashion piece which may be worn around the neckwith a necklace.

The mouthguard, as described in one or more non-limiting embodimentsherein, would be designed as a weightlifter's weightlifting plate.Typically, a weight plate is a flat, heavy object, usually made of castiron, that is used in combination with barbells to dumbbells to providea bar with a desired total weight for the purpose pf physical exercise.Weight plates are typically round, although 8-sided, 12-sided, and otherpolygonal varieties exist. In a preferred embodiment, the weightliftingplate styled mouth guard would be designed and made with food gradematerial used in making a mouthguard. In this exemplary embodiment, themouth guard would be designed to resemble a 45 lb weight plate. Inalternate embodiments, multiple designs to resemble different weightedplates and colors may be used. The mouth guard would be constructed withmouthguard material. A necklace may be incorporated and coupled to theweight plate resembling mouthguard such that the weight plate resemblingmouthguard may be worn around the individual's neck and would serve thedual purpose of ease of use as well as a jewelry fashion piece. Thenecklace may be looped through an opening in the weight plate shapedmouthguard. In an alternate embodiment, a loop may be coupled to themouthguard through which the necklace may be looped through.

The presently disclosed device is generally designated for use in themouth as a mouthguard to prevent dental injuries from grinding and/orclenching of teeth which may occur during strenuous exercises, such asweightlifting and hitting a boxing heavy weight bag among others. Themouthguard as described herein may be used in any type of sport oractivity as desired by the user.

In a preferred embodiment, a bite-down plate forms the basis of themouthguard for a user to place in the mouth and bite down upon. Thebite-down plate is designed with a diameter and thickness to fit withinthe mouth and provides a protective surface for the teeth to grip andclench.

The bite-down plate may generally be circular in design in onenon-limiting embodiment. Alternate embodiments of a mouthguard include abite-down plate with a shape resembling an 8-sided plate, a 12-sidedplate, and other polygonal shapes. In one exemplary embodiment,bite-down plate may be designed to resemble a 45 lb weight plate.Alternate embodiments may be designed to include other weighted platessuch as and not limited to 2.5 lb, 5 lb, 10 lb, 12 lb, 15 lb, and 20 lbamong others.

The mouthguard may also be comprised of an opening that traversesthrough a middle of the bite-down plate. Generally, an opening in aweightlifting plate is a functional feature that may be found in mostweight plates, which essentially allows one end of a barbell to beinserted through. A preferred embodiment of the mouthguard may includean opening in the middle of the bite down plate that is circular.Alternate embodiment of a mouthguard may include openings with a shapesuch as and not limited to a square, a rectangle, a triangle, an oval,and a polygon (e.g. heptagonal, hexagonal, etc).

The mouthguard may also be comprised of additionally openings thattraverse though the bite-down plate. The additional openings generallyfound along the perimeter of a weight plate are commonly referred to asa cut-out handle among others, and function to permit an individual tolift a weightlifting plate from these cut-out handles. The mouthguard ofthe present disclosure may be comprised of these cut-out handles alongthe perimeter of the bite-down plate to further resemble a weightliftingplate. The mouthguard may include any number of cut-out handles,including one, two, three, four or more cut-out handles in varyingconfigurations.

As mentioned above, alternate mouthguard shapes may be used to resemblethe various weightlifting plate shapes available. An example of analternate mouthguard may be comprised of a bite-down plate shaped like a12-sided weight plate, a middle circular opening, and three cut-outhandle openings disposed along the outer circumference of themouthguard, which is designed to resemble a weight plate with cut-outhandles. Another example of an alternate mouthguard may be that of abite-down plate shaped like a 12-sided weight plate, a middle circularopening, which has two cut-out handle openings along the outercircumference of the mouthguard. Alternative embodiments may includevarious weight plate shapes along with the cut-out handles, alsoincluded in varying numbers.

The bite-down plate may be fashioned from a food grade material used formaking mouth guards. In a preferred embodiment, the mouthguard isfashioned from silicone or TPE. However, alternate materials may bechosen to fashion the mouthguard, including and not limited to poly(vinyl acetate-ethylene) copolymer clear thermoplastic, polyurethane,laminated thermoplastic, EVA copolymer, soft acrylic resin, polyvinylchloride, polyvinyl acetate-polyethylene (pEVA), and other elastomers.

The dimensions of the bite-down plate may vary. In general, thebite-down plate of the mouthguard may be sized to fit comfortably in themouth with a diameter of 1 inch to 4 inches and the thickness may varyfrom 0.0125 inches to 1 inch. Multiple sizes with varying diameters andthickness may be included and may vary based on individual preferences.

The mouthguard may be used alone or may be attached to a necklace cord.The necklace cord may provide an option for the individual to wear themouthguard around the neck. The necklace cord may include and not belimited to a jewelry metal or other material, a linked style chain, acable chain, a color rope, a curb chain, and a marine chain, amongothers. The necklace cord may have any suitable form to attach anddetach the necklace cord from the mouthguard. Length of the necklacecord may vary and include standard lengths such as and not limited to10-14 inches, 16, inches, 18 inches, 20 inches, 22, inches, 24 inches,28-38 inches, and 40 inches or longer among other. In the exemplaryembodiment the necklace cord may be attached through the circularopening in the bite-down plate.

Alternate embodiments of the mouthguard, discussed above, also includedand are not limited to the bite down plates with cut-out handles nearthe circumference of the bite down plate. In those alternateembodiments, the necklace cord may connect through either the middlecircular opening or any of the cut-out handle openings. Alternateattachment means are within the spirit of the invention and not limitedto the description in this disclosure.

In an alternate embodiment, a mouthguard may include an alternateattachment means for a necklace cord. Any of the disclosed mouthguardsmay also be designed with a loop through which the necklace cord mayattach to the mouthguard. The mouthguard may be designed with the loop,whereby the loop is integrated to the outer edge of the circumferenceportion of the bite-down plate, which would allow the mouthguard to restflat against the individual's body. Alternate embodiments of attachmentmeans may include and not be limited to a clip that clips into thecircular opening, cut-out handle openings, or other openings in themouthguard. In this alternate embodiment of the attachment means, theclip may resemble a necklace clip or cord clip among others.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of a presently disclosedmouthguard, shown as mouthguard 100, is shown in a perspective view. Inthis exemplary embodiment, the mouth guard may be comprised of abite-down plate 105, where the bite-down plate 105 may generally becircular in design. The bite-down plate 105 is the surface of themouthguard 100 that the user actually bites down upon when placing inthe user's teeth. A top surface of the bite-down plate 105 may touch theupper row of the user's teeth and a bottom surface of the bite-downplate 105 may touch or make contact with the bottom row of teeth. Inthis manner, both rows of teeth in the user's mouth are protected by thebite-down plate 105 of the mouthguard 100.

Alternate embodiments may include a mouthguard with a shape resembling a12-sided plate or other polygonal shapes. In one exemplary embodiment,bite-down plate 105 may be designed to resemble a 451 b weight plate.Mouthguard 100, as shown in FIG. 1, may generally be fashioned to have acircular shape replicating a 451 b weight plate.

Mouthguard 100 may have an opening 110 that traverses through the middleof the bite-down plate 105. In a preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1,the mouthguard 100 may have an opening 110 that is circular andreplicates an opening in a conventional weight plate.

Referring to FIG. 1, the mouthguard 100 may be used alone or may beattached to a necklace 130. The necklace 130 may provide an option forthe individual to wear the mouthguard 100 around the neck and be readilyavailable to use during moments of or activities leading to teethgrinding or clenching. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, thenecklace 130 is attached to the mouthguard 100 through the circularopening 110 in the bite-down plate 105.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate examples of alternate mouthguard shapes andopenings in the mouthguard. FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a 12-sidedmouthguard 200. The mouthguard 200 shown in FIG. 2A may be comprised ofa bite-down plate 205 shaped like a 12-sided weight plate, and mayinclude a middle circular opening 210, and three cut-out handles havingcut-out handle openings 220 along the outer circumference of thebite-down plate 205. Accordingly, bite-down plate 205 may resemble aweight plate with cut-out handles. The necklace cord may loop throughand connect through either the middle circular opening 210 or thecut-out handle openings 220 (necklace cord not shown in the figure).

FIG. 2B illustrates a mouthguard 300 comprised of a bite-down plate 305shaped like a 12-sided weight plate, a middle circular opening 310, andtwo cut-out handle openings 320 along the outer circumference of thebite-down plate 305. The necklace cord may connect through either themiddle circular opening 310 or any of the cut-out handle openings 330(necklace cord not shown in the figure). Alternative embodiments mayinclude various weight plate shapes along with the cut-out handles, alsoin varying numbers including and not limited to round and 8-sided, andfour cut out handles, respectively.

In an alternate embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a mouthguard 400 isshown with an attachment means for a necklace cord (necklace not shownin the figure). In FIG. 3, the attachment means is shown as a loop 440through which the necklace cord may attach to the mouthguard 400. Theloop 440 may be coupled to the outer edge of the circumference portionof the bite-down plate 405, which would allow the mouthguard 400 to restflat against the individual's body. Alternate embodiments of attachmentmeans may include and not be limited to a clip (not shown) that clipsinto the circular opening (e.g. circular opening 410), cut-out handleopenings (e.g. cut-out handle openings 220), or other openings in themouthguard 400 (or mouthguards 100, 200, or 300). In this alternateembodiment of the attachment means, a clip may resemble a necklace clipor cord clip among others.

Individuals may have the ability to design their own mouthguard, such asmouthguards 100-400 shown in FIGS. 1-3 based on their own personalpreferences, fit, and comfort. Personalization of the mouthguard mayalso involve and not be limited to the individual choosing the style ofplate, openings in the mouthguard to attach a necklace, any writing onthe mouthguard, thickness and diameter of the mouthguard, type andmaterial and length of necklace, and alternate necklace attachmentmeans.

Accordingly, the present description provides one or more embodimentsfor a useful, improved, easy to use mouthguard that is designed to becomfortable and not inhibit speech and breathing. The mouthguard, asdescribed in one or more non-limiting embodiments herein, is designed tobe used during strenuous exercises (e.g. such as weightlifting or othersimilar strenuous activities) where the individual may bite down on themouthguard while exerting oneself and prevent dental injuries and otherproblems associated with grinding the teeth during exertion. Many otherbenefits and advantages are provided with the described mouthguard.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. The present invention according to one ormore embodiments described in the present description may be practicedwith modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of theappended claims. Thus, the description is to be regarded as illustrativeinstead of restrictive of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mouthguard apparatus comprising: a bite-downplate for placing in a mouth, wherein the bite-down plate is made from afood grade material, wherein the bite-down plate has a shape with ageneral appearance resembling a weightlifting plate; and an openingconfigured in a middle of the bite-down plate.
 2. The mouthguardapparatus of claim 1, the food grade material selected from the groupconsisting of silicone, thermoplastic elastomer, poly (vinylacetate-ethylene) copolymer clear thermoplastic, polyurethane, laminatedthermoplastic, EVA copolymer, soft acrylic resin, polyvinyl chloride,and polyvinyl acetate-polyethylene (pEVA).
 3. The mouthguard apparatusof claim 1, the bite-down plate having a diameter and thicknessanatomically sized to fit within the mouth of an individual.
 4. Themouthguard apparatus of claim 3, wherein the diameter is between 1 inchto 4 inches.
 5. The mouthguard apparatus of claim 3, wherein thethickness is between 0.0125 inches to 1 inch.
 6. The mouthguardapparatus of claim 1, the bite-down plate having the shape chosen fromthe group consisting of a round shape, an 8-sided shape, and a 12-sidedshape.
 7. The mouthguard apparatus of claim 1, the opening in the middleof the bite-down plate having a shape chosen from a group consisting ofa round shape, a square shape, a rectangular shape, a triangular shape,an oval shape, and a polygonal shape.
 8. The mouthguard apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein a necklace cord is secured through the opening in themiddle of the bite-down plate.
 9. The mouthguard apparatus of claim 1,the bite down plate having at least one cut-out handle opening along aperimeter resembling a cut-out handle in a conventional weightliftingplate.
 10. The mouthguard apparatus of claim 9, wherein a necklace cordis secured through one of the at least one cut-out handle opening in thebite-down plate.
 11. The mouthguard apparatus of claim 1, a loopintegrated on a portion of a circumference on the bite-down platewherein a necklace cord is secured through the loop.
 12. A mouthguardapparatus comprising: a bite-down plate for placing in a mouth, thebite-down plate being made of a food grade material and having a shapewith a general appearance resembling a weightlifting plate; an openingconfigured in the middle of the bite-down plate; at least one cut-outhandle opening along a perimeter resembling a cut-out handle in aconventional weightlifting plate; and a loop integrated on a portion ofa circumference on the bite-down plate.
 13. The mouthguard apparatus ofclaim 12, the food grade material selected from the group consisting ofsilicone, thermoplastic elastomer, poly (vinyl acetate-ethylene)copolymer clear thermoplastic, polyurethane, laminated thermoplastic,EVA copolymer, soft acrylic resin, polyvinyl chloride, and polyvinylacetate-polyethylene (pEVA).
 14. The mouthguard apparatus of claim 12,the bite-down plate having a diameter and thickness anatomically sizedto fit within the mouth of an individual.
 15. The mouthguard apparatusof claim 14, wherein the diameter is between 1 inch to 4 inches.
 16. Themouthguard apparatus of claim 14, wherein the thickness is between0.0125 inch to 1 inch.
 17. The mouthguard apparatus of claim 12, thebite down plate having the shape chosen from the group consisting of around shape, an 8-sided shape, and a 12-sided shape.
 18. The mouthguardapparatus of claim 12, the opening in the middle of the bite-down platehaving a shape chosen from a group consisting of a round shape, a squareshape, a rectangular shape, a triangular shape, an oval shape, and apolygonal shape.
 19. The mouthguard apparatus of claim 12, wherein anecklace cord is secured to the bite-down plate.
 20. The mouthguardapparatus of claim 19, wherein the necklace cord can be secured at theopening in the middle of the bite-down plate or can be secured on one ofthe at least one cut-out handle, or can be secured on the loop.